His first month in Double-A was a nightmare — he was hitting .185 — for the former Poway High slugger, who was the Big Ten Player of the Year and won the conference’s Triple Crown as a sophomore at Indiana in 2010.

“My swing wasn’t clicking, and the pitching was much better than high (Single-A),” said Dickerson, who was the Florida State League Player of the Year for Bradenton in the Pirates’ system in 2012. The 2011 third-round draft pick hit .295 with 31 doubles, 13 homers and 90 RBIs last season.

“The pitchers throw harder, they pitch inside more, and they locate better at this level,” Dickerson said. “Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed.”

Then in June, a week before his 23rd birthday, he was involved in a nasty collision at first base and suffered a concussion, missing a week.

“When I came back, I simplified things,” Dickerson said. “I kept my head still; it was moving a ton. I got my hands through the ball and stopped chasing balls inside from right-handers.

“I was hitting about .300 against left-handers, but only about .100 against righties.

“I got my power back and the hits started coming in bunches. I’ve been unconscious ever since.”

Since June 1, the left-handed-hitting first baseman/outfielder has hit .360 (67-of-186) with 19 doubles, 11 home runs and 44 RBIs in 50 games.

Friday, he had a career-best eight RBIs as the Altoona (Pa.) Curve beat New Hampshire 13-6. He followed with a 4-for-4 outing Saturday and was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs Sunday.

Hitting .417 in July, he has pushed his season numbers to .298 with 30 doubles, 14 homers and 59 RBIs.

“I got away with a lot in A-ball, so I think this season’s struggles will help me,” Dickerson said. The jump from A-ball to Double-A was huge. I hit rock bottom in April.

“But I’ve learned, at some point in an at-bat, pitchers will try and get one easy strike. That’s the one I have to hit.”

Black to Cubs

Right-hander Corey Black (Mission Bay High/San Diego State) was a player whom the Yankees didn’t want to give up in the deal that netted Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano. But the Cubs insisted.

Black, whose fastball has been clocked as high as 100 mph, was 4-5 with a 3.56 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 73 1/3 innings as a sophomore at San Diego State, where he also played the infield.

He transferred to Faulkner University, an NAIA school in Alabama, for his junior season, going 11-2 with a 1.53 ERA. He had 96 strikeouts in 88 innings and was drafted by the Yankees in the fourth round last season.

He was 3-8 with a 4.25 ERA, 88 strikeouts in 82 2/3 innings in 19 starts with Tampa of the Florida State League before the trade.

According to Baseball America, he has a plus fastball, an average change-up, and a fringe curveball, and he projects as a reliever, in part because he’s only 5-feet-11.